Cheese and Onion Pasty

I missed Greggs’ Cheese and Onion Pasties during lockdown. Here’s my version. No, not an exact replicas … but it satisfied an “itch”, and was good eating!

A sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry (375g) will make 4 good-sized pasties – or 6 smaller ones. But, honestly, who wants a daintier pasty?

H’s Gluten-free Dough-ball Wreath with Camembert

This worked well – good eating for all of us, wheat-eaters as well.

It’s not a “pale imitation” of a bread-based wreath; it’s different – more like a scone.

Cheesy Leeks – from Christmas 2020

“Who said Cheesy Leeks are bland?” Hands up – I did; and I was wrong ;-).

All I can say …

• any time I’ve been served them when eating out, they’ve had a sauce soft enough to melt into the gravy from the roast meat. Sorry – that spoils the leeks. AND WORSE, ruins the gravy. Lesson – with a roast and gravy, you want a thicker, more robust sauce.
• only time I made them, I used a cheese sauce I’d make for cauliflower. And that was too bland, given that a leek is more robust veggie than a cauli. Lesson – boost the flavours.

Here goes – call it “lessons-learning cheesy leeks”.

Cheese and Leek Pie

For a well-filled 7-inch pie-dish – or a shallower 8 inch pie dish.

Spinach and Feta Pie – variations?

Definitely NOT classic Spanakopita.

Glamorgan Sausages

Nothing much to add to Felicity Cloake’s guide to making the perfect Glamorgan Sausage … except she doesn’t make enough.

Savoury Bread Pudding

The original comfort-food recipe, as made by my brother, and remembered fondly by my family. The only recipe I know which specifies going for the cheapest, most basic ingredients available.

Pickled Cheese

Doesn’t matter what you call it – “marinated yoghurt cheese balls”, anybody? It sounds weird, but is just sublime.

Lemon Cheesecake

Couldn’t be simpler. Made with labneh/”yoghurt cheese”.

Labneh

I’d been using drained yoghurt to make my Cheesecakes and Smoked Salmon Parcels for years before I discovered it was actually a Lebanese cheese recipe – the easiest cheese in the world to make. And you can do a few other things with it too.